Tip on dealing w/ insurance companies

No ladies - my tip is not to bomb the place!

I noticed on another thread that some of you were dealing with the "No, we won't cover that, because it was a preexisting condition." Did you know - they cannot legally use the preexisting excuse if you can prove that you have been covered by insurance for at least 12 months prior to being with them?

Have you ever noticed when you change insurance companies that you get a "Termination Notice" from your old company. It's also called something else, but I don't remember what. Anyway it is SUPER important because it has the start/stop dates of when you were covered. It is your responsibility to forward this to the new insurance company. Keep a copy. If you don't get one, the old company will send/fax you a new one.

I learned this the hard way. I fought the "preexisting excuse" for some time before I finally figured out that it had to do with that one little sheet of paper that needed to be forwarded.

Thought this might help someone.

What you need is a certificate of credible coverage from your previous insurance company. The certificate provides evidence of prior health coverage, which is important when your are dealing with pre-exisiting conditions! Check with your plan administrator to see if you need to provide this.